Dave passed away on
Thursday, April 28, 2011. Aside from being an influential member of the
Simmons Community, Dave was a retired chemist from DuPont, and a WWII veteran.
When he retired from DuPont and moved to Wilmington, NC, he became interested in
the local boats, especially, the Simmons Sea-Skiffs. Dave learned all he
could about the boats, and purchased one of his own, a 1958 model 18-footer.
Since no one was building the boats any more (Simmons stopped production in 1972
following the tragic death of his son), Dave decided to do extensive measuring
on his boat and come up with a set of plans that the average backyard
boatbuilder could build. He was able to show his finished plans for the
18-foot Simmons Sea-Skiff to Mr. Simmons only a few months before Simmons'
passing in 1986. The plans, distributed by the New Hanover County Museum
became very popular, and soon there was a renewed interest in the little boats.
Dave wrote articles about the Simmons for Small Boat Journal and North Carolina
Wildlife magazines. He's been featured in many other articles concerning
Simmons Sea-Skiffs. Eventually he also finished plans for the 20-foot
high-side and 22-foot Simmons Skiffs. These plans have been sold all over
the world, and the boats have been built in such places as Scotland, Australia
and Singapore. It is due to a proven design from Tom Simmons and
extraordinary efforts from Dave that the Simmons is so popular today.

I am personally very
thankful to Dave for his efforts in keeping the Simmons Sea-Skiff in the
forefront of small boating and boatbuilding. He will be missed.